All's Ill that Ends Ill
by L.A.Wilson
Summary: [Complete] Kagome has returned home to stay, but her business in the Sengoku Jidai isn't quite finished.
1. The Rosary

The rosary on the Bone Eater's Well was a beautiful thing. It was nearly a yard long, and gradiated in color from a deep sea blue all the way through pale rose pink; interspersed with delicate paper _ofuda_. Kagome had placed it there when she came back from the Sengoku Jidai early in the summer of last. She had fed jii-chan a story about how it had been blessed by seven great priests to sooth his ego, but she had privately confided to Souta that Kaede-bachan and the lecherous priest had helped her with it. Regardless, it would forever block the path to and from the past.

His sister had been uncommonly grim when she returned to stay, placing the rosary and purifying the well-house with a kind of enraged efficiency. After a few weeks of that, she had become confident that the rosary was performing its duty, and the Higurashi household attempted to regain the skewed normality it had possessed before its only daughter had been summoned to her destiny. Souta longed to ask his sister about her travels, but she had forbidden anyone to mention them.

It was autumn now: Kagome would rejoin her friends at her new school, miraculously cured of all ills and properly caught up, thanks to summer school. Souta's curiosity, however, had not diminished with time. He spent drawn out minutes gazing at the well-house, feeling inexplicably drawn there. Today nee-chan was out with her friends, mama working, and jii-chan was napping. With no one else around, he could sneak into the well-house without fear.

Many months without cleaning had gathered a coat of dust on the floor, but the rosary shone as brightly as the day it had been brought there. He brushed his hands on one of the _ofuda_, feeling its powers crackle beneath his fingers; his hand slowly curling around the beads about to pull . . .

"Souta! Don't!" The boy twisted around to face his sister, his hand jerking back. Kagome was breathing hard, mundanely elegant in her new high school uniform. She rushed forward, furious.

"Souta, do you have any idea what you might have done? I told you never to remove the seal on the well!"

He blushed, embarrassed, "I'm sorry, nee_-_chan. I just . . . I wanted . . ." He swallowed, "When will big brother Inuyasha come back for you?"

Tears now mingled with the fury in Kagome's eyes. "He will never come back, can't you understand? Never, never, never, never."

She darted into the house, choking on her sobs. Souta could hear her crying, but she would not allow him to enter her room. He finally crept in after dark, when she had fallen asleep, fully clothed. Clenched in her fist was a large piece of red cloth, the same shade as the _haori_ big brother Inuyasha had always worn. Her breath came peacefully, the crimson shred held close to her heart.

Souta wondered again if nee-chan and the hanyouhad fought, but he knew no argument between them could last through the summer, not with Inuyasha's eagerness to find Shikon shards. Unless . . .Inuyasha had easily come through the barrier erected by jii-chan, but a barrier made by two miko and a houshii might be a different matter.

But why would Kagome not want Inuyasha to return? She had often been upset when they had fought, but so relieved when he returned for her. Souta crept out of Kagome's room and back out the house, into the dark. He glanced at the empty, surrounded by silence.

Months later, well into the school year, when the frost was on the fallen leaves, Souta thought of the rosary again. He was just returning from school when he saw that the entrance to the well-house was open. It creaked in the wind, bumping against the sill. Souta went to close it, trying, _trying _not to see inside; not to see the dust and the well and rosary, shining.

He slammed the door and bolted for the house, head reeling. He could taste the dust and feel the dry _ofuda_ and the coolness of the beads seemed to tingle his skin. He turned, slipping his back on, going back out the unclosed door. The entrance to the well-house was open again; creaking, tapping, calling.

Souta closed the door with a satisfying snap. There was even more dust then before, churned up into a tiny storm by the passing of tiny feet. The rosary, still luminous in blues, lavenders, and pinks, lay against the Bone Eater's Well. The _ofuda _fluttered and Souta rubbed one between his fingers. Shaking hands knocked the beads, which clanked hollowly.

Souta ran is hand along the length of the rosary and grasped the blue end firmly.

He jerked it free.


	2. The Broken Seal

Kagome walked home at a brisk pace, her mind consumed with the horror of a fast approaching trigonometry test. Numbers and symbols swirled through her head in nightmare patterns, never making a wit of sense. All the formulae promptly flew away free when she saw the well-house. To the casual observer, it looked no different than usual; the wind having subsided and the door firmly shut. But the latent miko could sense that something within was wrong.

She dashed inside, sick with fear. The well-house was empty, but the dulled rosary lay tangled on the dust covered floor, the _ofuda _crumbling and yellowed. Kagome peered down the dry well and almost someone, even some _thing _would come through and end her uncertainty. The well remained silent, its unseen bottom mocking her.

Trembling, she picked up the rosary, wondering if she could restore the binding spells by herself. She bolted the entrance to the well-house, knowing that she was not experienced enough to restore the seal alone. And, of course, she didn't possess the brute strength to jam a whole tree trunk into the well.

Kagome locked the doors and windows, offered a devotion to the Buddha, and hoped that anyone who might have wanted to come through the well had been deterred by the months it was sealed.

While in the process of turning on every light possible, she stumbled over Souta, who was huddled in a corner. His skin was paler than normal, his brown eyes wide and blank. He turned a tear-stained face up to his sister.

"Nee-chan, the rosary . . . I took it off . . . I'm sorry . . . I"

"Souta, you idiot! Do you know what could come through no that the well isn't sealed anymore? Of the danger you've put your family in?"

"Big brother Inuyasha will save us, like he did when the Noh mask came," he said weakly.

"Inu- that idiot will never come back, so stop mentioning it!"

"Nee-chan, he didn't get killed, did he?" whispered Souta, wiping his cheeks with his palms.

"Sheesh, he's too stubborn to die."

"Then what-"

"I don't want to talk about it! Mama will be home soon. I want you unlock the doors while I get my bow."

"Hai."

Autumn fell into winter, and winter melted into spring. Cherry blossoms smothered the world with pink softness, and still nothing came through the Bone Eater's Well. But Kagome did not ease her vigilance. She slept with a quiver at her side, and purified the well-house every other day.

It was routine day, on the cool side for late spring, the sky and pink petals blending spectacularly. What caused her to falter, to stop, to loosen her iron control for a minute Kagome would never know. She paused after the purification, leaning against the well, exhausted.

She gazed down the dry well, her breath trapped in her throat. She could go through: back across time to see Sango-chan and Kaede-bachan, Shippou-chan, and Miroku-sama. It would be so easy, her family wouldn't need to know—

She choked, sinking down to the floor, her face pressed against the rough wood. Only then did she let herself cry.

"Baka, baka, baka, baka!"

"Fuck, Kagome, I haven't even _done _anything yet."


	3. The Surprise Visitor

It took a few seconds for the shock to wear off. It took a few more for the scream to get out of Kagome's throat. The scream itself lasted a good long while. She scrambled to her feet, stumbling backwards as Inuyasha extricated himself from the well. She reached the door, ready to turn, run, slam the door and figure the rest out later.

Inuyasha had other ideas. He tackled her before she could flee, pinning her to the wall.

"What'er you running for, bitch?"

"Let me go."

"You're fucking coming back with _me._ Back to where you belong."

"I belong here, with my family, in my time." That said, Kagome used her powers to throw him back. With Inuyasha temporarily immobilized, she darted out of the well-house, snatching her bow and quiver and notching an arrow just in time to fend off the leaping youkai. He crouched not six feet away, blue in red eyes shining with hurt. His new black and scarlet outfit more elegant and mature, reminding her of his older brother's ensemble.

Kagome twitched involuntarily, her shot going wide. The bolt nicked Inuyasha's arm, purifying the demon's flesh to the bone. He shuddered, more at the fact that she had shot him than at the wound itself.

The girl strung a second arrow, her teeth bared in a snarl that would have been more at home on her opponent's face. She let it fly, aim perfect this time. Inuyasha whipped out the Tetsusaiga, faster than seemed possible, and cut the arrow down. He sheathed the gleaming red blade, and rushed Kagome, too quickly for her to restring her bow.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, Kagome? Do you think I'm crazy? That my heart is 'somewhere far away?' I'm still me!"

"You chose to use the Shikon no Tama to become a full youkai. Can you ask me to stay by your side after that? I never said I would stay in the past."

She threw up a holy barrier again, not fast enough to injure the youkai, but powerful enough to force him to move.

"Go back through the well, Inuyasha. Leave me and won't have to hurt you."

"I'm not fucking leaving without you."

"Then, I won't forgive you!"

Kagome held her aim and closed her eyes, trying her hardest not to tremble, not to process the fact that the Goshinbuku was behind Inuyasha, and that her arrow would pin him to it just as surely as the arrow of her previous incarnation's had.

"Everything's fucking come full circle, eh?" She felt Inuyasha sigh. "Go ahead and shoot me, Kagome. You are the only one I'd let kill me."

Her eyes opened, aim wavering. Amazing how little a year could change an expression; Inuyasha's face was the same as the day she had first seen him. In this very spot, five hundred years before.

"Why are you shooting big brother Inuyasha, nee-chan?"

Kagome jerked at Souta's small voice. She half-turned, hissing. "Souta, get behind me."

"Nee-chan, I thought you'd be happy that Inuyasha came for you."

"Souta, cover your eyes."

Kagome released the arrow. Inuyasha's eyes grew wide with shock as he realized the arrow was aimed at his neck instead of his heart. It hit with wet thud, drawing a strangled cry from Kagome and a tinny shriek from Souta.

The youkai slumped, blood gurgling in his throat. He glared up at Kagome, eyes glowing balefully. He reached up and wrenched the arrow from his flesh.

"Did you really expect to kill me, with an arrow you didn't even want to fire?"

He jumped at her again, blood flecking the air he breathed and staining his new haori a deeper red. Kagome forced Souta to the ground and attempted to string her bow in the same motion. It didn't work.

"I'm not here to kill your bloody family!" Inuyasha twisted the bow from her grasp, snapping it in two. Kagome bit back her defeat. No rosary, ineffective on a true youkai; no miko powers, too exhausted from previous uses. She was beaten.

Inuyasha hoisted Kagome up on his back and started for the well-house, slowly, since Kagome refused to hang on to him. He had to keep her from sliding off by yanking her back onto his shoulders every few seconds.

"Put me down," whispered Kagome.

"Like hell."

Inuyasha was not the only injured party of the fight. The door of the well-house had been reduced to a broken slab of wood hanging by one hinge. The pair entered the damaged building, and were amazed to see who had reached it first. Crouched at the bottom of the well was Souta, still and white. Both captor and captive marveled at the feat. The captor's shock a few movements longer, giving the captive an opening. Kagome slipped down Inuyasha's back, seeking to get far enough away. It proved futile. The youkai caught her again, now holding her securely to his chest.

"Get out of the well, brat," he growled.

"You'll let nee-chan come home, won't you big brother Inuyasha?" asked Souta, frozen still.

"Souta, get away from here!" yelled Kagome, voice muffled by her position.

"What if you can't come back?"

"It's more important that nothing happens to you."

But Souta refused to climb out of the well. The stalemate went on, Souta immobilized by terror, Inuyasha unwilling to break his word, and Kagome desperate for a way out.

Help came by pure chance, unless divine intervention is taken into account. Kagome's hand brushed the Tetsusaiga's sheath. Seeking to distract Inuyasha, she flailed her legs, while her hand sought a good hold on the sword handle. Once she had one, she jerked on the sword as hard as she could manage.

It came free. Despite her awkward position, Kagome thrust the katana deep into Inuyasha's shoulder. He dropped her, in too much pain to spare a thought on her.

Gambling on Inuyasha's honor, she stumbled out of the splintered hole that was once the well-house door. Her bow was were she had dropped it. She fumbled for the arrows, very much aware of the former hanyou's recovery speed.

This time she didn't hesitate. One arrow buried itself in Inuyasha's unwounded shoulder, the next in his stomach. Between those; the neck and stab wounds, she hoped he would no longer have the strength to overpower her.

"Souta! Come out of the well-house. Go inside and call Mama. Tell her to buy concrete, like we talked about."

"Hai," Souta responded as he crept out from the wreckage of the door, giving the combatants a well-deserved berth.

Inuyasha's expression stung, an uncharacteristic mingling of hurt and surprise. He slid the Tetsusaiga back into its scabbard, signaling defeat. His appearance blurred and shifted; eyes reverting to an achingly familiar amber.

"What the hell's concrete?"

Kagome frowned, trying to find the words to explain in a way Inuyasha would understand.

"Liquid stone."

"You'll cover the well with it."

"Tomorrow."

Inuyasha turned and ducked into the well-house. Kagome did not watch him go.


	4. Epilouge

Kagome's sleep was shallow that night, until a small noise caused her to wake fully. Her window had been slid open, and Inuyasha was sitting on the sill.

"You said you'd close the well _tomorrow,_" he said by way of an explanation.

"Why are you here, then?"

Inuyasha became intensely interested in the floor before muttering, "I wanted to see you."

Kagome sat up in bed, pulling the coverlet around her to keep out the chill from the open window. Inuyasha had obviously gone back to the Sengoku Jidai. The color of his clothes was impossible to guess in the dim light, but their style was similar to those he had originally worn. The Tetsusaiga was notably absent, a promise not to try force again.

"What would be so bloody wrong with you coming back with me?" he blurted out, the words bulging on his tongue. Inuyasha never asked for anything if he could take it.

"Because you're a youkai now. You'll live for hundreds of years longer than I will. And . . . and—if we ever have children," and here they both blushed. "They'd have to go through all the horrible things you did."

Maybe Inuyasha had realized this already; maybe it was only now that it had truly gotten through. He was unusually thoughtful for a few minutes. Then he got up and restlessly wandered around Kagome's room.

"What is it, Inuyasha?" asked Kagome sleepily.

He didn't look at her, but answered to the wall, "I'll never be able to smell you again, Kagome."

"Then take something of mine."

"Smells fade."

Kagome lay back down.

She did not cry, and neither did she sleep.


End file.
